MTHATHA-BORN chef, Mahle Mihlali Vellem has found a second home at the Sun City Resort.
The 29-year-old sous chef (second in command of a kitchen) currently works at the resort's new luxury villas known as Lefika Villas, a job he never thought he would do.
Growing up, Mahle used to watch his mum cook and that's when his passion for cooking was ignited.
“After school, I enrolled at the HTA School of Culinary Arts, where I had an opportunity to polish my skills. Two years later, I graduated with a diploma in professional cookery,” Mahle said.
In 2017, fresh out of cooking school, he was hired as a Chef de Partie (a person responsible for the preparation of ingredients such as chopping, measuring, weighing and butchering) at Time Square in Pretoria.
“I was part of the opening team of Time Square, which was a huge opportunity for someone just starting out in their career to be involved in such a humungous opening," he said.
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"They taught me a lot about how an operation works and how to deal with staff. That set me on my leadership path."
The chef was moved to Sun City Resort to head a team of chefs.
“In 2022, I was asked to head up the kitchen at an old colleague’s new restaurant. I believe this role prepared me for when the call came, asking me to head to the Sun City Resort as one of the leading members of the Leloko team.
“To be a sous chef at the new Leloko Bistro at Lefika Villas was an offer I couldn't turn down, even if it was a tough call because it meant leaving my wife and a two-and-a-half-month-old baby girl, but it was for our greater good," he said.
Mahle said at Leloko his creative juices flowed.
"I had to create the menu from scratch – playing around with flavour profiles and touching places inside me that I didn't know even existed. When I look at the menu, I can proudly say I've done well and am pretty sure my mentors would agree that they've done their job - now it's my time to spread my wings and fly, showcasing what they taught me.
“I was given an opportunity to hand-pick the team and I'm passing on the knowledge that I have onto them, teaching and guiding them as much as I can as they are the chefs of the future. As someone who is new to Sun City, they've made me feel welcome and we work in a respectful environment," he said.
